Posts tagged “photography”

Spike Photography client Handelsbanken’s new office is in the news today. The official opening of their West Bridgford branch was celebrated with a drinks and canapes party and I was there to record the event for posterity – and the POST!

Branch manager Ian Davys knows me from way back, we often bump into each other at events for Nottingham’s great and the good, so it was a no-brainer for me when he asked me to take some great photographs of him and the team at his new outpost of the Handelsbanken empire.

Behind Ian and Neil Clarke, Leader of Rushcliffe Council, is part of a mural of photographs I took for their boardroom – and it looks amazing – even though I say so myself 😉

Branch manager Ian Davys greets Councillor Neil Clarke, leader of Rushcliffe Council, who own The Point, where Handelsbanken’s West Bridgford branch has opened.

Driving past the other day, the building they were in has a big To Let sign outside it but their signage is still up and pictures are in the window. I had a call yesterday from a dad who wanted Work Experience for his daughter, but I’m too busy at the moment, so suggested Venture Photography. However, he said they had closed down.

He asked me about Olan Mills and I told him that they went out of business many years ago, then were revived by some guys and they sprang up in a shop in Huntingdon House, on Huntingdon Street, Nottingham, but they didn’t last too long and were soon closed.

Now Venture have a reputation for very expensive portrait sessions despite their ‘£25 voucher offer’ – see: http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=114829 so maybe the recession has done for them? Their phone number is disconnected.

Anyway, I am always happy to provide some really great family photography or portrait sessions at a much more realistic price – get in touch if you are interested…

I photographed a 66,000,011 year old lady the other day in Leicester University. Jane was pictured with Rod and John from Vertigo Creative who made her look her best with some creative lighting and a dynamic pose.

By the way, Jane is a Tyrannosaurus rex, found at Hell Creek, amid the arid badlands of Montana. She is a sub-adult, estimated to be around 11 years oldat the time of her death. Vital statistics, 7′ 6″ tall and 21 feet long – around half the size of a fully grown dinosaur.

Weight 110 stone – but would have become 5 tonnes if she had reached adulthood.

Dinosaurs are typically named after the archiologist who finds them – hence the name ‘Jane’.

Her lower jaw features a full set of razor-sharp teeth, ideal for tearing into flesh. I wonder if she was smiling for me? 🙂

Singers from property companies throughout the Nottingham area joined forces at Oceana nightclub recently to make X-Factor look like a bunch of beginners.

Nottingham Hot Property was established in 2004 by Malcolm Wright to raise money for Nottingham based children’s charities and over the years it has raised over £180,000 for them. All the singers and musicians are from local property firms and spend weeks rehearsing to get the performances pitch-perfect. See event photos (by me) here

Jasmin Choo (left) and Pauline Simpson, both from Shoosmiths sing ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree’

I waited a while before getting my iPhone 4, I’ve had all of them since the original on the day of release. Yeah, I know, I’m an Apple fanboy – like a magpie, I love their shiny stuff. They just do it better than other makers of tech kit – when they work as intended…

This time I wanted Apple to sort out the ‘Version One’ teething troubles first. Plus I wanted to ask a few real life users about the reception problems due to the aerial around the body. Although right handed, I use my phone in my left (so I can write,etc) and this apparantly makes the issue more noticable. Friends said they were having no problems, although I did not they were all using a case, so better get one from Apple whilst they are still giving them out free.

So, I took the plunge and went with one from the 3 shop. Having just unboxed it, charged overnight and synced it, imagine my frustration to discover the autofocus on the front camera doesn’t work. The camera pointing to me does, however. The problem is there for both stills and video. Not very good for a photographer like me!

So, back to the shop for an exchange. I wouldn’t mind so much but it took that long to do all the blooming paperwork when I bought it, I got a parking ticket 😦

UPDATE: After an hour out of my life including travelling time, the shop exchanged my phone for a new one. He’d not seen that problem before, although had one where the screen was totally black. My number ported just before I took it in to the shop, leaving my old iPhone 3 on O2 useless, and my replacement iPhone 4 useless, as even witht the sim in, it has to be synced with iTunes. . .

Talk about an on-the-spot news photographer See my post above – Hot News Photography in Calveron, Nottingham, tonight on the title bar. I was in the kitchen next door – you can see how close the flames got!